It is expected that in early March, a railway train carrying containers from Da Nang will go directly to Europe. (Photo: Vietnamnet)

The train will carry a total of 23 containers of furniture products by well-known Swedish brand IKEA.

In its journey, the train will stop at Dong Dang International Railway Station in order to get customs clearance so it can move to Zhengzhou railway station before connecting to the Asia-Europe train to reach its destination.

The IKEA products will be delivered to several cities, including Liege of Belgium, Hamburg of Germany, and Melzo of Italy.

This comes after a freight train left Ha Noi for Belgium for the first time in July last year carrying containers of garments, textiles, and leather shoes. The route takes trains between Yen Vien Railway Station in Ha Noi and the Belgian city of Liege, where the containers are then unloaded before being sent by truck to their final destination, the Dutch port city of Rotterdam.

According to the Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR), international railway freight transport services posted positive growth last year and in January.

Despite the complexities of COVID-19, nearly 1.16 million tonnes of goods were transported by trains in 2021, surging 34 percent compared to the same period last year.

Of note, the Dong Dang railway station of the northern border province of Lang Son witnessed surges of 82 percent in the volume of goods and 117 percent in carriage frequency in the fourth quarter of last year.

The exports were primarily ore, sulphur, chemicals, electronics and garment-textiles, among others.